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Typhoon kills 11 in Vietnam; China deaths up to 33

The Associated Press

Updated:
07/21/2014 09:23:10 PM EDT

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In this photo taken Saturday, July 19, 2014, a woman looks at a tree uprooted by Typhoon Rammasun in Nanning in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The strongest typhoon to hit southern China in four decades has killed more than a dozen people, the government said Sunday. (AP Photo) CHINA OUT

HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — A typhoon that barreled into northern Vietnam killed at least 11 people and left several missing, state media said, while in China the death toll from the strongest storm to strike the country's south in four decades rose to 33.

Typhoon Rammasun made landfall in Vietnam over the weekend, triggering heavy floods, destroying homes and crops, and blocking roads with landslides, said the Vietnam News, an English-language daily published by the official Vietnam News Agency.

The paper's website carried photos that showed streets and local markets in the city of Lang Son and elsewhere submerged in water, with residents floating on rubber tires or rafts or huddling under makeshift tents.

Rammasun had earlier battered southern China, killing 33 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes, China's official Xinhua News Agency said Tuesday.

It was the strongest typhoon to hit China's southern region in 41 years, damaging roads and ports, cutting electricity and water supplies, and hampering rescue efforts as it swept through dozens of coastal cities. Xinhua reported that 608,000 people have been evacuated due to Rammasun.

Worst hit was the island province of Hainan, where the storm made its first landfall Friday. By Monday, 51,000 houses and 40,600 hectares (100,300 acres) of crops had been destroyed. The typhoon caused $1.7 billion in damage on the island, Xinhua reported.

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The government of Yunnan province in southern China separately reported that 14 people had died in mudslides triggered by the typhoon's heavy rains, according to Xinhua.

The typhoon wreaked havoc in the northern Philippines last week, leaving 94 people dead.